Sarai

Sarai was the original name of Sarah, the wife of Abram (Gen. 11:29). The name means my princess — a personal, possessive form of the word for princess or noblewoman. She accompanied Abram from Ur of the Chaldeans and then from Haran when God called him to leave his country and kindred (Gen. 11:31; 12:1–5). At the time of the covenant of circumcision and the divine promise that she would become the mother of nations, God changed her name from Sarai to Sarah — dropping the possessive suffix, making her name simply princess in a more universal sense befitting the mother of the covenant nation (Gen. 17:15). The change in name, given alongside the new name Abram received (Abraham), marked the transformation of both their identities in relation to the divine promise. Thus Sarai appears in the earliest chapters of her story (Gen. 11–17), while Sarah is the name used from the covenant confirmation onward.